Abstract
Disturbances in family functioning have been identified in youth with chronic pain
and are associated with worse child physical and psychological functioning. Assessment
measures of family functioning used in research and clinical settings vary. This systematic
review summarizes studies investigating relationships among family functioning, pain,
and pain-related disability in youth with chronic pain. Sixteen articles were reviewed.
All studies were cross-sectional; 7 utilized between-group comparisons (chronic pain
versus healthy/control) and 12 examined within-group associations among family functioning,
pain, and/or pain-related disability. Studies represented youth with various pain
conditions (eg, headache, abdominal pain, fibromyalgia) ages 6 to 20 years. Findings
revealed group differences in family functioning between children with chronic pain
and healthy control subjects in 5 of 7 studies. Significant associations emerged among
family variables and pain-related disability in 6 of 9 studies with worse family functioning
associated with greater child disability; relationships between family functioning
and children's pain were less consistent. Different patterns of results emerged depending
on family functioning measure used. Overall, findings showed that families of children
with chronic pain generally have poorer family functioning than healthy populations
and that pain-related disability is more consistently related to family functioning
than pain intensity.
Perspective
This review highlights the importance of family factors in pain-related disability
in youth with chronic pain. Results suggest that family-level variables may be an
important target for intervention. Family functioning measures showed significant
variation, and researchers should take this into account when selecting instruments
for use in research and clinical settings.
Key words
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Article info
Footnotes
Tonya Palermo's work is supported by grant K24HD060068. Jennifer Stinson's work was supported by a Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) Post-Doctoral Fellowship and a Career Enhancement Award from the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program. Susannah Handley's work was supported by an IMHA Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) summer research studentship. C.T. Chambers is supported by a Canada Research Chair and research grants from CIHR.
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© 2010 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
